EDF Health

Yesterday the Washington Post reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is acknowledging that new research raises "valid concerns" about the possible health effects of triclosan, an antimicrobial chemical that can be found in dozens of consumer products as diverse as soaps, personal care products, cutting boards, plastic sandals and even bath towels.

Originally developed as a surgical scrub for use by doctors and nurses, the burgeoning uses of this pesticidal chemical have hugely expanded human and environmental exposures. With little evidence of any actual public health benefits from such uses, FDA along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) should move quickly to limit triclosan use. Only those uses that have a demonstrable public health benefit, when weighed against potential health and environmental risks, should be allowed. Read More »

An article recently published in the journal Macromolecules reports on the development of a new process that the authors claim can prevent the migration of phthalates from PVC plastic. This “breakthrough” will undoubtedly be used to argue that industry should be allowed to continue to use a retinue of toxic chemicals in the manufacture of PVC destined for use in a broad variety of applications.

Concern for consumer exposures is often the main argument made against the use of toxic chemicals in consumer applications. With evidence of exposure to chemicals like phthalates in nearly everyone who has been tested, including pregnant women, this is understandable.

But even if the new claims are proven to be true, there are many other reasons we need to find safer substitutes for such chemicals: worker exposures, environmental releases and end-of-life recycling and disposal issues, to name a few. The potential impacts from continued use of toxic chemicals must be examined across their entire lifecycle. Read More »

When it comes to chemical exposures, workers are on the front line. Workers are usually the most likely to be exposed to harmful levels of chemicals, because they are the ones producing, processing, handling, sampling and measuring, transferring and transporting chemicals in larger and more concentrated quantities.

For these reasons, EDF has argued that workers handling or otherwise likely to be exposed to nanomaterials must be protected from harm (see our earlier posts here, here and here). Now, a new government study published in the respected journal Environmental Health Perspectives reveals that certain comfortable assumptions about nanomaterial laboratory safety may be downright wrong. Read More »

Identifying which chemicals are endocrine disruptors can help protect people and the environment from harmful exposures. So, with test orders now in the hands of pesticide manufacturers, will we finally get the data we need? Read More »

Growing up in the 1970s, Mischief Night was a big deal for me. When I was in grade school, hoards of us kids took to our neighborhood just after dark to wreak innocent havoc. More fun than Halloween, I recall soaping up car windows and decorating neighbors' trees with toilet paper. (What were our parents thinking?)

When a wonder toy called Silly String hit the stores, Mischief Night turned psychedelic with crazy vibrant colors issuing in long streams from an aerosol can! And what was the harm? Silly String simply dried up and blew away. Who knew that we might actually be spewing a brew of toxic chemicals? Read More »